CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zechariah 9:12. Strong hold] Fortress, forcibly contrasting with pit (Psalms 40:2). To-day] No need to despair; their condition miserable, yet not hopeless. Double] Not strictly of twice the quantity, but simply of great abundance. A large amount of blessing far outweighing the misery of bòndage [cf Wardlaw].
Zechariah 9:13.] The method of victory represented figuratively. Judah, the extended bow; Ephraim, the arrow by which Jehovah would overcome the Grecians.
Zechariah 9:14-16.] God’s presence with his people. Seen] Conspicuously displaying power, like the pillar of old: seen like lightning, the arrows of God in a thunderstorm. South] (cf. Isaiah 21:1; Hosea 13:5). Southern storms always most violent.
Zechariah 9:15. Eat] the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy, like a lion devouring its victim (Numbers 23:24). Subdue] Lit. “tread underfoot the sling-stones,” hurled by the foe. Missiles will not hinder their progress, but fall at their feet, and be trampled to the dust. Bowls] of sacrifices. Corners] Horns of the altar, sprinkled with blood from the bowls (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 4:18); priestly figures intimating holy war and victory.
Zechariah 9:16. Stones] Gems in the crown of the conqueror; not the sling-stones trodden by the foot.
Zechariah 9:17. How great] (exulting exclamation) in bestowing victory and fruitful seasons. Corn and wine] indicate peace and plenty to those pressed by the foe and pinched in circumstances (Deuteronomy 33:28; Psalms 4:8).
HOMILETICS
PRISONERS OF HOPE.—Zechariah 9:11-12
With the promise of release is connected the duty of the captives to embrace the opportunity of returning to their own land, where they would enjoy the protection and favour of Jehovah.
I. There is no imprisonment without hope. “Prisoners of hope.”
1. To saints in trouble. In trials and straits they must maintain hope.
2. To sinners in wickedness. A stronghold is provided for all; secure from the stroke of offended justice, and from the attack of the foe. “No case is desperate. None should despair or say, “Our hope is lost.” “I would not despair unless I knew the irrevocable decree was passed, saw my misfortune in the book of fate, and signed and sealed by necessity” [J. Collier].
II. There are grounds for hope in the provisions of Divine mercy.
1. In the atonement of Christ. In the covenant blood we have every hindrance removed, and every means provided for the salvation of man.
2. In the promise of Scripture. “I will render double unto thee.” Grace to convert and strengthen, the Holy Spirit to teach and direct, are offered. Blessings double in themselves, and as pledges of others.
3. In the stronghold provided. The height (Psalms 18:30) is prepared the rock contrasting with the pit. The Rock of our Salvation immovable and inaccessible. Low defences are soon scaled, and weak ones soon destroyed. But this refuge is eternally secure. Its sanctity none can invade, its power none destroy.
III. Men are urged to avail themselves of these provisions. Hope should inspire our hearts in danger, and prompt us to get out of it.
1. They are commanded to escape. “Turn ye to the stronghold.” Divine authority and affection are set forth in the prediction.
2. Escape should be made immediately. “Even to-day.” The Jews were not to wait for future opportunity, when all might return together. While there was hope, individually they must hasten, and make no delay. To-morrow may be too late. To see the light of day fade away is sad, but much worse to lose hope for eternity. Flee “for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before you.”
Ye prisoners of hope. This title is not a fanciful one. To the Jew it had a triple significance.
1. He was under the yoke of a foreign despot, and longed to regain his freedom.
2. He was under the yoke of an unfulfilled promise, and yearned for the “day star to arise.”
3. He was under the the yoke of the unrealized prophecies concerning the glory of the Messiah’s kingdom, and the eternal felicity of his followers. The words of the text are the true designation of every Christian.
I. We are prisoners to an unredeemed body (cf. Romans 8:23). Observe—
1. There is a sense in which the body is already redeemed.
2. There is another sense in which our bodies are not redeemed. (a) They are not yet free from manifold infirmities. (b) Not yet redeemed from sensuous appetites. (c) Not yet redeemed from the dominion of death.
3. Hope anticipates the possession of an immortal body. (a) From which every element of weakness and infirmity is excluded. (b) In which carnal appetites shall have no place. (c) Which shall be no more subject to death.
II. We are prisoners to a limited and superficial knowledge. “Now I know in part”—there is bondage. “Then shall I know even as I am known”—there is freedom.
1. Our knowledge touches not the essence, but only the phenomena.
2. Reaches men not as they are, only as they appear
3. Is limited by the brevity of life, and the conditions of its existence.
4. Hope anticipates the solution of the dark enigma of human life.
III. We are prisoners to a circumscribed Christian fellowship. The great family of God is sadly dismembered.
1. Doctrinal divergence.
2. Suspicion, the offspring of imperfect knowledge.
3. Social status is a barrier to fellowship.
4. Distance and death contribute to limit the measure of fellowship.
5. Hope anticipates the universal and perfect fellowship of saints. (a) This will include all ages; (b) all climes; (c) all classes and creeds.
IV. We are prisoners to an imperfect vision of Christ. “We see through a glass darkly,” and through “a mirror in an enigma” [Lange]. Yet note—
1. Christ is really apprehended by faith even here.
2. This vision is a test, a dim one.
3. Human nature in its present state is not capable of a more open vision.
4. Hope anticipates not only an immediate vision of Christ, but a nature capable of beholding it. Lessons.
1. This hope inspires the heavenward pilgrim—(a) with patience “to endure as seeing him,” &c. (b) With courage “to war a good warfare.”
2. This hope was a sanctifying virtue.
3. This hope amounts to an assurance [The Homiletic Quarterly]
THE DOUBLE RECOMPENSE TO GOD’S PEOPLE.—Zechariah 9:13-15
The abundance of the blessings promised after release is expressed by the word double, which conveys the idea of compensation, a measure of glory outweighing all former sufferings. “For your shame ye shall have double.”
I. Victory over the world will be granted. “The sons of Javan are the Greeks, as the world-power, the Græco-Macedonian monarchy (cf. Daniel 8:27), against which the Lord will make his people into a hero’s sword” [Keil]. This was fulfilled in some measure in the wars of the Maccabees and Seleucidæ, but must not be confined to that period. The Gospel is destined to overthrow the wisdom of the Greeks, and subdue the world to Christ.
1. Victory by human agency. Ephraim and Judah have to fight. Apostles and ministers have to preach. “Heaven made us agents, free to good or ill” [Dryden].
2. Victory by God’s blessing upon human agency. “I have been raised up,” &c. These words found an echo in Judas Maccabæus, when the company with him asked, “How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing that we are ready to faint with fasting?” “It is no hard matter,” answered Judas, “for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company” (1Ma. 3:16-19; cf. 2 Chronicles 14:8-11).
II. The special presence of God will be displayed. “The Lord shall be seen over them,” conspicuously displaying his power for them.
1. As a shield to defend them. “The Lord of Hosts shall defend them,” in the midst of enemies numerous, powerful, and bitter. He delivered “by providential arrangements, by earthquakes, by angelic messengers, by direct punitive and deadly judgments. He released them, to the amazement and confusion of their enemies, from the closest and most vigilant confinement” [Wardlaw].
2. As a conqueror to help them. Taking the sling-stones as a figure of the enemy [Keil], they were trampled beneath the feet of the Jews. “The souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling” (1 Samuel 25:29). A phrase denoting security from the assaults of the enemy under the special protection of God.
3. As a shepherd to provide for them. “The Lord their God shall save them in that day the flock of his people” (Zechariah 9:16). Not only victory, but lasting peace. Constant care and tenderness will be exercised over his people (Psalms 23).
III. Great honours will be conferred upon them. Job’s latter end was better than the beginning. The dignity of God’s people shall be double their shame.
1. Moral beauty. “How great his beauty!” The beauty Christ bestows upon his people in character and conduct is more than human; it is Christ’s own beauty. “Thou art fairer than the children of men.”
“Old friends shall lovelier be,
As more of heaven in each we see” [Christian Year].
2. Unwonted prosperity. Young men shall be made cheerful, and no longer suffer scarcity. Maidens, ready to faint from hunger and thirst, shall have plenty of new wine. This abundance of the fruits of earth typifies the recompense to God’s people. They will be strengthened, and made glad; be led to admire God’s free love and favours, and to commend all past dealings as excellent and good. “For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!”
“Beauty armed with virtue bows the soul,
With a commanding, but a sweet, control” [Percival].
THE MIGHTY STRUGGLE AND THE GLORIOUS VICTORY.—Zechariah 9:13-17
I. The army is collected. “The Lord God shall blow the trumpet.” The terms are martial. The trumpet blowing naturally represents the proclamation of the Gospel by Divine authority, and with accompanying Divine power; the design being thus the gathering of outcast sinners to Christ’s standard; and thus the enlargement of his spiritual host, and the increased rapidity of his conquests [Wardlaw].
1. The foes. “Against thy sons, O Greece.”
2. The friends. Judah the bow, and Ephraim the arrow.
3. The commander. Jehovah “seen over them,” like the pillar of cloud and fire.
II. The conflict is described. The description is poetical.
1. Terrible as a storm. “His arrow shall go forth as the lightning”—suddenly and irresistibly (cf. Psalms 18:14). “The whirlwind of the south” sweeps everything before it. No power in earth or in hell can resist the might of Divine grace. Thousands will yet be subdued.
2. Furious as wild beasts. “They shall devour,” a metaphor from beasts. Like devouring lions, they would eat the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy. “Behold a people like the boness; it rises up, and like the lion does it lift itself up: it lies not down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain” (Numbers 23:24).
III. The victory is gained. The result is not uncertain. “Conquering and to conquer.”
1. Victory given as a shepherd to his flock. “God shall save them in that day as the flock of his sheep.”
2. Victory recorded in the crown of the conqueror. Precious stones or gems were set in crowns, and the elevation of the crown indicated victory. “A victory is twice itself, when the achiever brings home full numbers” [Shaks.].
3. Victory celebrated in the joy of the conqueror. The general idea is that of sacred joy, the songs and shouts of victory, inward delight and exultation of spirit. “They shall drink, and make a noise as through wine.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Zechariah 9:11-12. Duty, and encouragements to perform it; or, the stronghold—how to get it, and the blessings of its security; or, salvation may be had. This salvation only gained by effort. “Turn ye,” &c.
1. Available refuge. “The stronghold,” impregnable, secure, and lasting.
2. Access to it free, and should be immediate.
Zechariah 9:14. Arrows. Strongly express the speed and the resistless power of his converting grace. The arrow of Divine truth, with which the Apostolic bow was fitted, carried conviction to the conscience, and quickening power to the heart. By killing it made alive. We are reminded of the language of Psalms 45:3-5 [Wardlaw].
Zechariah 9:16. God’s people glorified. Here we see the dignity of the Lord’s people. They are “stones,” precious stones, set in the “crown” of the King of kings. Here is also their exhibition: these stones of a crown are “lifted up.” They are not to be concealed. Here is also their utility: these stones are to be lifted up “as an ensign upon the land”—an oriflamme suspended over the royal tent; designed to attract followers to the cause in which he is engaged [Jay].
Zechariah 9:17. How great his goodness! God’s free love (benevolence) the fountain of all mercies.
1. Great in the gift of Christ.
2. Great in the conversion of sinners.
3. Great in the support of his people. How great were the sacrifices which Christ’s goodness made! How great are the gifts which his goodness bestows! How great the extent to which his goodness spreads! How great is the duration of his goodness! [Sacred Garland]. But it is not the goodness of God alone that is to be seen in the Gospel. “How great is his beauty!” The loveliness of his entire character—its light, as well as its love—the united harmony of all its attributes in the work of Christ! We are not truly under the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit, if it is only his goodness that we admire. The faith of the Gospel imparts a spiritual taste for “the beauty of holiness,” as well as of love. It teaches and disposes us to delight in all that God is [Wardlaw]. Hence, great his beauty—
1. In himself. “The brightness of the Father’s glory,” &c. “The glory of the only begotten,” &c. He is beautiful in his Divine and human nature.
2. In his people. “The king’s daughter all glorious.”
“All human beauties, all Divine,
In my Beloved meet and shine.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Zechariah 9:11-12. Pit. Some of the pits referred to in the Bible were prisons, one such I saw at Athens, and another at Rome. To these there were no openings, except a hole at the top, which served for the window and door. The bottoms of these pits were necessarily in a filthy and revolting state, and sometimes deep in mud. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay:” one of these filthy prisons being in the Psalmist’s view; in Isaiah 38:17 called “the pit of corruption,” or putrefaction and filth [John Gadsby].
Zechariah 9:13-15. Mighty man. It is held that valour is the cheapest virtue, and most dignifies the haver [Shake.]. When a man goes in the fulness of his strength upon any enterprise, how do his blood and spirits triumph beforehand! No motion of hand or foot is without a sensible delight. The strength of a man’s spirit is unspeakably more than that of the outward man; its faculties and powers more refined and raised; and hence are rational or intellectual exercises and operations much more delightful than corporal ones can be [Howe].
Zechariah 9:16. Flock. What condescension, for the Infinite Lord to assume the office and character of a Shepherd towards his people! It should be the subject of grateful admiration that the great God allows himself to be compared to anything which sets forth his great love and care for his people. No man has a right to consider himself the Lord’s sheep, unless his nature has been renewed, for the Scriptural description of unconverted men does not picture them as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner sets great store by it, and frequently it is bought with a great price [Spurgeon].
Zechariah 9:17. Goodness and beauty.
“Oh, he is good,—he is immensely good,
Who all things formed, and formed them all for man:
Who marked the climates, varied every sone,
Dispensing all his blessings for the best,
In order and in beauty!” [Smart].